Receptacle for drinking-cups.



W. E. SWIFT. I IIECEPTACLE FOR'DRI'NKING cuPs. APPLICATION FILED APR. 8. 1916.

LWLQMI Paten-m01 Jan.14,1919.

Mmam. I i WM 5M WILLARD 1E. SWIFT, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNTTJED STATES ENVELOPJE COMPANY, OF SPRINGFJEELJD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION 0F y Marian.

l ,Willi .,2A5.

To all wlw/a t may concern:

lie 1t known that I, lllfTILLARD E. Swrr'r, a

citizen of thel United States, residing at lllorcester, in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth of li/llassachusetts, have in vented a. new and useful llmprovemcnt in Receptacles for Drinking-Cups, of which the following, together with the accompanying drawings, is a specilication.

'l`he present invention relates to a receptacle for collapsed or folded drinking cups, and is designed to inclose a stack of such cups in theV form of a package for insertion within a permanent dispensing or distributing` cabinet.

An object of the invention is to provide means for facilitating the charging of such a cabinet with a stack 4of such cups, whereby the cups are disposed in proper position for withdrawal through the delivery opening of the cabinet, and a further object. is to provide means, when the receptacle and' inclosed stack have been inserted in the cabinet, for freeing the cups from the receptacle in order to enable them to be independently withdrawn from the cabinet.l The invention resides in the provision of a receptacle which affords a temporary closure at the end corresponding to the delivery end of the dispensing cabinet, so arranged that when the receptacle and stack are inserted in the cabinet, the temporarily closed end will be exposed. rlhus exposed, it may be ren dered inoperat-ive, in order to e'ect the disposit-ion of the stack in operative relation to the cabinet, by the withdrawal of said receptacle in the manner hereinafter described.

The invention is fully set forth and described in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the receptacle, ready for insertion in a distributing cabinet, after having been filled with a stack of cups.

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the receptacle in an open position, illustrating the construction thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a distributing or dispensing cabinet, showing a loaded cup receptacle in the act of insertion therein.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a distributing or dispensing cabinet, loaded With Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Application led April 8, 1916.

RECEPTACLJE FCR DRINKJENG-CUPS.

Patented alan. AA, 1919.

Serial No. 9,946.

cups and ready for use, after the removal of the receptacle shown in Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in the different views.

p The receptacle or carton which ll have chosen to rillustrate my invention consists of a boit preferably rectangular in cross section and made of cardboard or any other suitable material. Said boX provides a bottom 1, sides 2 and 3, and a closed upper end 4. At the opposite end of the box the sides 2 and 3 are beveled or chamfered, as indicated at 5, 5, for a purpose hereinafter set forth. The top of the box is preferably formed in two sections 6, 7, the one, 6, being suitably hinged to the side 2, and the other, 7, being suitably hinged to the side 3. When the top is closed, tongues 8, 8 on the section 6 are adapted to interlock in slits 9, 9 of the section 'i' in order to retain the parts securely in position. The section 7 of the top has hinged at its lower end a flap 10, which is of sufficient size to close the lower end of the receptacle when the top sections are interlocked together, as shown in Fig. 1. ln this position the flap 10 constitutes a closure for the lower end of the receptacle and preferably lies in a plane substantially parallel to the beveled lower edges 5, 5 of the sides 2, 8, said sides projecting beyond the plane occupied by said Hap. A string or cord 11, suitably secured to the back side of bottom l by means of a pasted tab 12, or the like,' is provided for coperation with a button 13 on the outer face of flap 10, the twisting of the string 11 around the shank of button 13, in the manner common to the fastening of a Well known type of merchandise envelop, retains said flap 10 in position, when the receptacle is closed, and enables it to supporta stack of cups within the receptacle, as shown in Fig. 3.

As herein shown, the receptacle is designed for use with a-dispensing cabinet of the general construction set forth and described in Letters Patent No. 1,151,064, issued August cross sectional area than the area of one of the cups, but it is to be understood that my invention is not limited to this construct-ion,

it being clear that the same is adopted only to satisfy the requirements of the articular typel of cabinet herein illustrated) and described.

When the receptacle has been filled with drinking cups, which are stacked in the manner shown in Fig. 3, the end flap 10 is closed, by twisting the string 11 around the shank of button 13, as shown in lFig. 1. I'Vith a stack of cups thus held therein, the receptacle in an upright position is inserted in a cabinet 14, which is provided at its lower end with hinged spring doors 15, 16, as fully set forth in the aforesaid. Letters Ptent, said doors being provided across the lower inclined bottom of said cabinet. An opening 17 is afforded by these doors when they are in closed position to permit seizure of the lowermost cup of the stack carried within the cabinet. When the package of cups, in the form of the closed stack supporting receptacle, is inserted in the cabinet, the string 11 is exposed to view through the opening 17. In this position the operator is able to reach said string and release it from the button 13, thus allowing the flap 10 to drop downwardly under the weight of the stack of cups. Thereupon the receptacle may be withdrawn from the upper end of the `cabinet; the flap 10, being free, assumes a position in' the plane of the top 6, 7 as this upward movement of the receptacle proceeds, the stack of cups being thus released and left in the cabinet in properly stacked position, as shown in Fig. 4.

The invention enables a complete supply of drinking cups for the cabinet to be inserted by a single operation, and further insures the proper disposition of the cups within the cabinet in an inclined position, resting on the hinged doors 15, 1G. The loading of the receptacle is easily accomplished on account of the ready access to the interior thereof, and the loading of the cabinet by means of the package constituted by such receptacle insures proper stacking of the cups therein, thereby preventing and avoiding inaccurate stacking, which might arise from the carelessness of the operator in case the cabinet were filled direct.

The extensions ot' the beveled sides 2, 3 beyond the plane occupied by the bottom flap l0 of the package efectua-lly prevent displacement of the lowermost cup of the stack, and also serve to guide the stack into proper position in the dispensing cabinet, as the receptacle is being withdrawn therefrom.

I claim:

A receptacle fora stack of collapsed drinking cups, rectangular in cross section and comprising a bottom, sides and a top of less length than the bottom, said top having a iap tting between the sides of the receptacle, but of greater width than the space between the top and bottom of the box, and means for attaching said fiap to the bottom of the box forming a closure for one end of the receptacle, and an inclined support. for the stack of cups when the receptacle is placed on end.

Dated this seventh day of April, 1916.

WILLARD E. SWIFT. Witnesses:

PnNELorE CoMnunAcn, NELLIE INHALEN. 

